Electronic ticketing system and method

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure provides a method of electronically exchanging tickets for an event in a secondary market from ticket sellers to ticket buyers located at remote terminals. The method comprises associating the tickets with the authentication data of the ticket seller, receiving from ticket sellers electronic asks comprising an ask quantity and an ask price, receiving from a ticket buyer an electronic bid comprising a bid quantity and a bid price, comparing the bid to the asks, completing a transfer of the tickets when the bid price equals the ask price and the ask quantity is equal to or greater than the bid quantity, and reassociating the tickets with authentication data of the ticket buyer. Also disclosed is a system for performing the method.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] The present application is a continuation application and claimsthe benefit of U.S. patent application: “Electronic Ticketing System AndMethod,” Ser. No. 09/590,455, filed Jun. 9, 2000, and is hereinincorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present invention relates to a system and method forreal-time sales and distribution of tickets.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Paper tickets are widely used to grant access to patrons tosporting and general entertainment events. The ticket is a contractwhich grants the holder the right to attend the event and, normally, tosit in a particular seat. By transferring possession of the physicalticket, a ticket holder has transferred the right to attend the event.

[0004] However, many problems are associated with the transfer of papertickets. In order to issue the ticket, the event promoter must organizethe delivery of thousands of tickets. Additionally, if a purchaserwishes to transfer the ticket to a subsequent purchaser, the buyer andseller must be geographically proximate to physically transfer theticket. With the advent of the Internet, buyers and seller have beenable to locate each other in order to transfer tickets. However, thepaper ticket still stands as an impediment to the efficient transfer ofthe right to attend an event because the seller must ship the ticket tothe seller. By shipping the ticket the buyer and seller incur additionalcosts and require a greater lead time to allow the transfer to occurbefore the event. Each party must also have enough trust that the otherparty will deliver as agreed. Frequently, because of the impediments ofsale, tickets are not widely transferred by geographically remote buyersand sellers.

[0005] Another type of impediment stands in the way of the efficienttransfer of tickets. Most states have laws which prevent the sale oftickets for more than the face value of the ticket unless the seller hasthe consent of the event sponsor. To sell the ticket above face value,it is impractical for an individual seller to attempt to obtainpermission from an event sponsor prior to selling a ticket. Because anevent sponsor makes no money on the transaction, it has very littleincentive to grant consent.

[0006] In a few other states laws allow a ticket broker to sell ticketsat a price above the face value of the ticket, but not buy tickets aboveface value. Therefore, ticket brokers must obtain a ticket at the facevalue from the event sponsor and resell the ticket at a higher price.The ticket broker is violating the law if he purchases the ticket at ahigher value from someone who is not a ticket broker. Finally, theticker broker must still physically transfer the ticket to the buyer.

[0007] The present invention is a system and method which provides alegal, efficient way to transfer the right to attend an event at themarket value of that right and to determine the market value. Thepresent invention eliminates the disadvantages of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The present disclosure provides a method of electronicallyexchanging tickets for an event in a secondary market from ticketsellers to ticket buyers located at remote terminals. The methodcomprises associating the tickets with authentication data of the ticketseller, receiving from ticket sellers electronic asks comprising an askquantity and an ask price, receiving from a ticket buyer an electronicbid comprising a bid quantity and a bid price, comparing the bid to theasks, completing a transfer of the tickets when the bid price equals theask price and the ask quantity is equal to or greater than the bidquantity, and reassociating the tickets with authentication data of theticket buyer. Also disclosed is a system for performing the method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009]FIG. 1 is a diagram of the system according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

[0010]FIG. 2 is a diagram of a data center according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

[0011]FIG. 3 is a diagram of a venue according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

[0012]FIG. 4 is a flow chart describing the steps of an embodiment ofthe present invention; and

[0013]FIG. 5 is a flow chart describing the steps of an embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0014] While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in manydifferent forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein bedescribed in detail preferred embodiments of the invention with theunderstanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as anexemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intendedto limit the broad aspect of the invention to the embodimentsillustrated.

[0015] Referring to FIG. 1, the system architecture of the preferredembodiment of the present invention is implemented in three types oflocations: a data center 2, a plurality of venues 4, and a plurality ofterminals 6. The data center 2 is in communication with each venue 4 andeach terminal 6 through the Internet or any Wireless Application 8. Theterminals 6 can be any device through which a user can access a website,for example: a personal computer, a personal digital assistant, anInternet-through-television device, or any type of many availablewireless devices available in the market.

[0016] Referring to FIG. 2, the data center 2 preferably comprisesdatabase servers 10, web servers 12, a load balancing router 14 and afirewall 16 connected to the Internet 8. The firewall 15 receivesmessages from the Internet 8 and forwards the messages to the loadbalancing router 14 and likewise receives messages from the loadbalancing router 14 and forwards them to the Internet 8. The firewall 16preferably performs a number of filtering functions and network addresstranslation in order to safeguard the data center 2 from unauthorizedaccess. The firewall 16 also preferably encrypts the messages usingknown public key/private key encryption methods. The load balancingrouter 14 forwards messages received from the firewall 16 and forwardsthe messages to one of the plurality of web servers 12. The loadbalancing router 14 also forwards messages received from the web servers12 to the firewall 16. In this manner, the load balancing router 14distributes tasks to be performed to one of the plurality of web servers12 in order to distribute processing demands. The web servers 12 accessthe database servers 10 to retrieve and store information in response toreceived messages from the terminals 6 and transmits reply messages tothe terminals 6. The database servers 10 store data tables which containinformation about various venues, events, ticket resources, user roles,ticket status, ticket holders and ticket bidders, as will be explainedin greater detail below.

[0017] Referring to FIG. 3, within each venue 4 are a plurality ofturnstiles 18, a venue database server 20 and venue firewall 22connected to the Internet 8 for communicating to the data center 2. Theturnstile 18 of the venue 4 comprises an authentication reader 24, aprinter 26, a network connection 28, a display 29 and a processor 31.The authentication reader 24 is preferably a magnetic card reader.However, other types of cards may be used, such as cards incorporatingsingle- or multi-dimensional bar codes or wireless methods ofcommunication, without departing from the scope of the presentinvention. The network connection 28 allows the turnstile 18 tocommunicate with the venue database server 20 in order to provideinformation about the card being scanned and to receive informationabout whether to grant or deny entry to the venue 4. The turnstile 18preferably is a compact unit which runs from embedded software withinthe turnstile or from a server locates on site or remotely 18. While theturnstile 18 is described as being connected with the venue databaseserver 20 with a wire, one of ordinary skill in the art can easilyrecognize that communication between the turnstile and database servercan be implemented by radio frequency, optical communication or anyother method of wireless communication without departing from the scopeof the present invention. The venue database server 20 maintains arecord of the tickets have been sold, the ticketholders have passedthrough the turnstile 18 and which ticketholders have not yet arrived.The database server is preferably a computer running UNIX, Windows NT,Java or Sparc and having an Oracle, Informix, Sysbase or SQL Serverdatabase.

[0018] In order to implement the present invention, an end user canaccess the data center 2 by using a standard web browser on the terminal6. However, non-standard, custom software can also be implemented or webbrowser software on a wireless device, such as a personal digitalassistant. Terminals 6 can log into the data center 2 to view eventswhich will take place in the future, purchase tickets in the primarymarket from the event sponsor, offer tickets for sale in the secondarymarket, purchase tickets in the secondary market and purchasemerchandise or services related to the event. When the user has enteredthe appropriate address of a desired data center 2, e.g., an on-lineticketing web page, the user can view a calender of events to search fora desired event or choose a venue to see what events will be appearingat the venue in the future. After selecting an event which the userdesires to attend, the user may purchase tickets for the event from theevent sponsor. Additional products and services can also be offered atthe time of ticket sales. After the ticket is sold and before the timeof the event, the ticket can be transferred by the ticket owner tosubsequent ticket buyer.

[0019] Referring to FIG. 4, the ticket has a determined life cycle whichis tracked by the system of the present invention. The steps of the lifecycle are: ticket setup 100, primary market 102 and secondary market104. In the ticket setup step the ticket is assigned a venue 106, anevent 108 and ticket pricing rules 110 are associated with the ticket.Additionally, brokers may be assigned to the ticket 112 in order totransfer the ticket in a multi-broker environment. In the primary marketstep 114 the ticket is offered for sale. If the ticket is sold 116, theticket becomes an “owned ticket” 118. If the ticket is used 120 by theperson it is sold to, the patron is allowed to enter the event 122 andthe tickets life cycle ends in the primary market. If the ticket is notsold before the time of the event 124, the ticket's life cycle endshaving been unsold in the primary market.

[0020] If the ticket is not used in the primary market, it may be tradedin the secondary market 126. There is no limit how many times the ticketmay be traded in the secondary market before the time of event. Manyoptions are available for sales of tickets in the primary and secondarymarket. Sales of tickets can be made using traditional methods, such asby offering a ticket for a fixed price or a scaled price (i.e. studentand senior citizen discounts). Tickets can also be offered using anon-traditional format such as in an auction-type format, a reverseauction-type format or in an exchange-type format. In an auction-typeformat, event sponsors can place groups of tickets on sale and sell themto highest bidder after a fixed period of time. Many different optionsare available for the auction-type format, such as allowing users toplace bids for groups of tickets. If the user's bid cannot be satisfiedat the present price for all seats, the bid fails. Alternatively userscan place a bid for which, if the bid cannot be fulfilled for thequantity of seats of the bid, the number of seats in the bid is reduced.{Any other variations which can be considered}. Using the auction typeformat, the event sponsor realizes the maximum profit for the eventbecause tickets are sold for their true market value. A reverse auctiontype format is similar to an auction-type format with the caveat thatthe event sponsor “bids” to sell the ticket rather than users biddingfor the right to buy the ticket.

[0021] In an exchange type format, tickets are sold in the primarymarket by event sponsors who advertise an ask price for a particularticket. At the same time, users advertise a bid price in order topurchase a particular ticket in a particular section of the venue. Boththe ask price and the bid price remain valid for a particular period oftime. If the ask price advertised by event sponsors is higher than thebid price advertised by any particular user, no ticket is sold. However,the moment a bid price equals an ask price, a sale of a ticket is made.Additionally, bids can specify quantities of contiguous seats as well asa bid price. In a like manner, event sponsors can specify quantities ofcontiguous seats along with the ask price. An event sponsor may wish tospecify a minimum number of contiguous tickets to prevent large blocksof seats from being broken up or to force the sale of an exact number ofnumber of seats in order to prevent a single seat in a block from blockfrom being unsold (i.e. to prevent selling two seats of a block of threeunsold seats). An event sponsor may wish to specify a maximum number ofseats in order to prevent. When a user's bid price equals and quantityof seats for an event equals a sponsor's ask price and is within thesponsor's minimum and maximum quantity of seats, a sale is made.Therefore, the main difference between an auction type format or areverse auction-type format is that sales are made instantaneously whena bid price equals an ask price for a ticket.

[0022] Alternatively, for different classes of seating at the venue, acombination of sales formats can be implemented. For example, for asporting event, seats which have the best view, such as box seats andluxury boxes, an event sponsor can implement a non-traditional formatwhich seeks to secure the highest market price and implement atraditional format of ticket sales for the remaining seats. Also,tickets may be sold in the primary market by a particular method andsold in the secondary market by another method. Tickets may also be soldin the primary market by one method and sold in the secondary market byone of multiple available methods.

[0023] During the step of offering the ticket 126, a price is associatedwith the ticket. Depending on the format the price has a differentsignificance. For example, the price may be a first bid price or, in anexchange type format, the price may be an ask price. Next bids areplaced on the ticket 128 until the ticket is sold 130. If the ticket issold the ticket is now owned by the new buyer 132 who may use the ticketand enter the event 136 or offer the ticket for resale 126. If theticket remains unsold 138, the ticket may be used in the primary market120. Additionally, unsolicited bids can be placed for a ticket. Anyoneseeking to buy a ticket can specify the price at which he or she iswilling to buy and wait to see if a ticket owner is willing to sell atthat price.

[0024] Each time a ticket is transferred new ownership information isassociated with the ticket. Ownership information could be credit cardnumbers used to purchase the ticket, a cell phone number, a digitalencryption on a personal digital assistant, or a single- ormulti-dimensional bar code. The two dimensional bar code can be printedby the user in order to provide a physical indication of ticketownership. In order to provide an incentive for event sponsors to grantpermission to sell the tickets in the secondary market, the presentsystem provides that for sales in the secondary market the event sponsorwill receive a royalty. Royalties can be a flat fee or a fee based onthe sales price of the ticket in the secondary market.

[0025] Referring to FIG. 5, upon arriving at the venue to attend anevent, the ticket owner authenticates himself to the event sponsor inorder to gain entry to the venue. Authentication can occur in a varietyof ways including infra-red wireless scanning. In one example, theticket owner slides the credit card 200 associated with the ticketthrough the authentication reader 24 on a turnstile 18. Alternativemethods for authentication could be implemented such as bar codedauthentication tickets, as described above. If the authentication reader24 unsuccessfully scans the authentication 202, the reader signals thedisplay 204 to indicate that the authentication was not successfullyscanned 206. If the authentication is successfully scanned the readerqueries the venue database server 20 the determine whether the ticket isvalid 210. If the ticket is not valid, the venue database server 20returns an error 212 and the display is signaled 204 and messagedisplayed 206. If the ticket is valid, the venue database server 20returns a message indicating the ticket is valid 214.

[0026] Next, the venue database server 20 marks the ticket as used 216within the database and signals the printer 26 to print a receipt 216and the printer responds by printing a receipt 218. The authenticationreader 24 also releases the turnstile 18 (step 222) and signals thedisplay 223 which displays a message 225. Next, the ticket owner passesthrough the turnstile 224 to allow the ticket owner to enter the venue4.

[0027] In order to implement the present system, user roles areimplemented, such as: venue management, event management, eventmarketing, ticket owner, ticket buyer and administration. The roles mayinteract with the system in order to fulfill necessary tasks by eitherusing terminals 6 connected via the Internet 8 or directly to the datacenter 2 or venue 4. A user fulfilling a venue management role can enterinformation regarding the venue such as seating charts, directions tothe venue and entrance gate information. A user fulfilling an eventmanagement role can enter information about an event to take place atthe venue, such as the name, time, date, seating configuration of thevenue, ticket pricing for the event and merchandise to be offered toticket purchasers. A user fulfilling an event marketing role can enterinformation pertaining to products and services that are offered tousers upon offer or completion of a ticket sale. A user fulfilling therole of a ticket owner can enter information regarding the price (firstauction bid or ask price, as appropriate) and identity of the ticket ortickets. A user fulfilling the role of ticket buyer can enterinformation regarding the quantity and price (an “auction bid” price oran “exchange bid,” as appropriate). A user fulfilling the role ofadministrator preferably has the rights of all roles and any additionaltask necessary for maintenance of the system.

[0028] While the specific embodiments have been illustrated anddescribed, numerous modifications come to mind without significantlydeparting from the spirit of the invention and the scope of protectionis only limited by the scope of the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for electronically exchanging paperlesstickets for an event in a secondary market from ticket sellers to ticketbuyers, the system comprising: means for associating the paperlesstickets with authentication data of the ticket seller; means forreceiving from ticket sellers electronic asks comprising an ask quantityand an ask price; means for receiving from a ticket buyer an electronicbid comprising a bid quantity and a bid price; means for comparing thebid to the asks; means for completing a transfer of the paperlesstickets when the bid price equals the ask price and the ask quantity isequal to or greater than the bid quantity; means for reassociating thepaperless tickets with authentication data of the ticket buyer, andwherein the authentication data does not constitute a paper material;and, means for granting access to the event upon presentation of thebuyer authentication data of the paperless ticket.
 2. The system ofclaim 1 wherein the paper material is personal identification of thebuyer.
 3. The system of claim 1 wherein the authentication data of theticket buyer being provided by the ticket buyer.
 4. The system of claim2 wherein the authentication data of the ticket buyer being provided bythe ticket buyer.
 5. A method of electronically exchanging paperlesstickets for an event in a secondary market from ticket sellers to ticketbuyers, the method comprising the steps of: associating the paperlesstickets with authentication data of a ticket seller; receiving fromticket sellers electronic asks comprising an ask quantity and an askprice; receiving from a ticket buyer an electronic bid comprising a bidquantity and a bid price; comparing the bid to the asks; completing atransfer of the paperless tickets when the bid price equals the askprice and the ask quantity is equal to or greater than the bid quantity;reassociating the paperless tickets with authentication data of theticket buyer, wherein the authentication data does not constitute apaper material; and presenting authentication data of the ticket buyerat an access device operably connected to the system.
 6. The method ofclaim 5 wherein the paper material is personal identification of thebuyer.
 7. The method of claim 5 wherein the authentication data of theticket buyer being provided by the ticket buyer.
 8. The method of claim6 wherein the authentication data of the ticket buyer being provided bythe ticket buyer.
 9. A system for electronically exchanging paperlesstickets for an event in a secondary market from ticket sellers to ticketbuyers, the system comprising: a data center which associates thepaperless tickets with authentication data of a ticket seller, the datacenter further being adapted to receive from ticket sellers electronicasks comprising an ask quantity and an ask price, and to receive from aticket buyer an electronic bid comprising a bid quantity and a bidprice; compares the bid to the asks; completes a transfer of thepaperless tickets when the bid price equals the ask price and the askquantity is equal to or greater than the bid quantity; reassociates thepaperless tickets with authentication data of the ticket buyer, whereinthe authentication data does not constitute a paper material, and allowsaccess to the venue upon presentation of the buyer authentication datato an access device operably connected to the data center.
 10. Thesystem of claim 9 wherein the paper material is personal identificationof the buyer.
 11. The system of claim 9 wherein the authentication dataof the ticket buyer being provided by the ticket buyer.
 12. The systemof claim 10 wherein the authentication data of the ticket buyer beingprovided by the ticket buyer.
 13. A system for electronically exchangingpaperless tickets for an event from a ticket seller to a ticket buyer,the system comprising: a primary market for the event having a paperlessticket, and each paperless ticket is associated through authenticationdata to a primary market owner; the paperless ticket having a primarymarket price responsive to a secondary market; the secondary markethaving a secondary market owner of the paperless ticket; means forassociating the paperless ticket with the authentication data of thesecondary market owner of the paperless ticket; means for receiving fromthe secondary market event ticket owner electronic asks comprising anask quantity and an ask price; means for receiving from a secondarymarket event ticket buyer an electronic bid comprising a bid quantityand a bid price; means for comparing the bid to the asks; means forcompleting a transfer of the paperless ticket at a secondary marketprice wherein the bid price equals the ask price and the ask quantity isequal to or greater than the bid quantity; means for reassociating thesecondary market paperless ticket through authentication data to thesecondary market paperless ticket buyer, wherein the authentication datadoes not constitute a paper material; means for granting access to theevent upon presentation of the authentication data associated with thesecondary market paperless ticket; and means for adjusting the primarymarket price in response to the secondary market price.
 14. The systemof claim 13 wherein the paper material is personal identification of thebuyer.
 15. The system of claim 13 wherein the authentication data of theticket buyer being provided by the ticket buyer.
 16. The system of claim14 wherein the authentication data of the ticket buyer being provided bythe ticket buyer.
 17. A method of electronically exchanging paperlesstickets for an event from a paperless ticket seller to a ticket buyer,the method comprising the steps of: selling a paperless ticket in aprimary market to a primary market buyer at a primary market price, andthe primary market price being responsive to a secondary market price ofthe paperless ticket; associating the paperless ticket with anauthentication data of a secondary market seller of the paperlessticket; receiving from the secondary market paperless ticket sellerelectronic asks comprising an ask quantity and an ask price; receivingfrom a secondary market paperless ticket buyer an electronic bidcomprising a bid quantity and a bid price; comparing the bid price tothe ask price; completing a transfer of the paperless ticket at asecondary market price wherein the bid price equals the ask price andthe ask quantity is equal to or greater than the bid quantity;reassociating the paperless ticket through authentication data to thesecondary market event paperless ticket buyer, and wherein theauthentication data does not constitute a paper material; grantingaccess to the event upon presentation of the authentication data at anaccess device operably connected to the system; and adjusting theprimary market in response to the secondary market price of thepaperless ticket.
 18. The method of claim 17 wherein the paper materialis personal identification of the buyer.
 19. The method of claim 17wherein the authentication data of the ticket buyer being provided bythe ticket buyer.
 20. The method of claim 18 wherein the authenticationdata of the ticket buyer being provided by the ticket buyer.